Ethanol is becoming an increasingly important alternative fuel as oil prices continue to rise in the wake of political instability and as new drivers come online in countries such as China and India. Corn, due to its fermentable sugars (e.g., carbohydrates), is currently an industrial starting material for ethanol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,472 (U.S. Pat. No. '472) describes a different source of fermentable sugars, single-cell free floating algae. This patent discusses how single-cell free floating algae contain carbohydrates in their cells and can be cultured under laboratory conditions as a source of fermentable carbohydrates. The main drawback is that the process of U.S. Pat. No. '472 is not industrially scalable due to the inherent limitations of single-cell free floating algae.
In view of the above, it is desirable to find an alternative source of fermentable carbohydrates that can be used on an industrial scale.